Meaning
by chaotickalas
Summary: A year after a devastating accident, Hideki reflects on his memories with Chi. Was it all really worth it? Had it all been just a wonderful dream? Despite this, he must try to find Yumi who’s been kidnapped by a serial killer. With the help of an...
1. Chapter 1 Dealing Death

A year after a devastating accident, Hideki reflects on his memories with Chi. Was it all really worth it? Had it all been just a wonderful dream? Despite this, he must try to find Yumi who's been kidnapped by a serial killer. With the help of an enigmatic force that makes Hideki question the state of his sanity, will he be able to save Yumi and finally find peace?

**Dealing Death**

Hideki was mourning at the gravesite, from which people would occasionally stare at the tired young man if they realized that he was one who fell in love with a Persacom. Through their love, he had paved way for a new future. Some were still reluctant to believe Persacoms were nothing more than an appliance. However, they did not know Chi like he had. She was special to him. She was his reason to be…

Artificial or not, Chi had proven her love. It was real love, no matter how you looked at it. Wasn't it?

Hideki didn't care. Chi was far more human than most people in the world. She truly knew what it meant to be alive, without being alive. He stared down at the grave written with the inscription, "Here lays Chi Motosuwa, beloved one above the stars, eternally hugging mine," as the rain blended with his tears. "She was real? Wasn't she…?"

He nearly choked from heartache. Had he really loved someone? Had he loved someone who was alive? It was hard, but he had to question himself this now. Especially now that she was gone, even cremated at his request. The only memento he had to remind him that they had really shared any time together was a photo. Oh, and of course, how could he forget the Atashi series? It was Chi's favorite possession, something that actually told the story of their love. That had probably been the reason she loved them so…

Chi's body was too mangled up to repair but Miss Hibiya had offered to copy Chi's memories into a new body but Hideki refused. As tempting as it was, the new Chi would only be a copy. He felt it would be too easy an answer that in the end would be harder to face than the actual situation. Chi was dead; there was nothing he could actually do to bring her back.

He thought back to that very day, it had been two years since he met her. Making it three years since then, now twenty-one going on twenty-two. A year had passed since the accident.

Why couldn't, why wasn't he able to save her? If he hadn't bought her that damn puppy…perhaps he would have been the one who died. Perhaps, Chi could of gone on living, but it was a topic that couldn't be ignored. He knew he'd have to talk to Chi about it one point or another.

It was an even harder question to answer than her last. When she brought up a topic of her own existence, all because of that damn Pinocchio book, Hideki's heart began to ache. There were even people who made Chi cry when she heard comments such as "Don't apologize, she's just a Persacom," or "Persacom's don't have feelings, just cut in front of her…"

It took awhile to convince her, but finally managed to comfort her feelings. Of course, this made it even harder in the end.

-

People surrounded the busy street. Apparently there had been an accident. Chi had called out for her puppy, Pantsu. She had been very happy to receive this gift from Hideki. He had told her it would be a big responsibility. She had named him after her seemingly favorite word. If only he hadn't told Chi about death…but it had been the right thing to do, right?

Later, Hideki returned to the same apartment that once felt like home. He just couldn't bring himself to leave, with all the memories surrounding it.

"I'm home Chi!" Hideki called out. The albino kitten purred while leaping at him. If she had been the size of a certain someone, she would of pushed him down. It was a familiar happy feeling, but sad at the same time a sad one. It felt nice to say Chi's name…

After a few hours and locking the door, Hideki took out his gun.

He stared into the darkness of the gun's barrel. He wondered if that's all death was, seeing nothing, being as of nothing. He rolled the chamber, a click and a clank. He wondered if this was what Chi had really been seeing the whole time, as she wasn't alive. It wouldn't take but one pull of the trigger…

He pressed it tightly against the side of his head. "Do it, you've no reason to live…" a dark voice echoed in his head. "Well, you still have friends who love you. Your not the only one who lost Chi," another more caring voice argued. "Oh is that so? They didn't love Chi…only I loved Chi," the dark voice argued again. "That's not true, Ueda went through this too," the caring side of Hideki's mind bickered back.

Hideki's eyes started to water as he readied himself but then a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hideki!"

There was a sudden hiss from the cat, as it knocked a book on the floor jumping from the shelf. Hideki chickened out yet again. Still ashamed he had once again tried to kill himself. He quickly looked around the room, but no one was there. He thought he had heard someone call out his name. There however was no one to be seen.

Deciding his mind was just playing tricks on him, he decided to investigate what had frightened Chi. The cat seemed to stare into nothingness, then walked away as if nothing had happened. "What has gotten into you?" Hideki asked knowing there'd be no answer. If there were, it would be a simple meow for milk.

Hideki knelt down to pick up the fallen book but froze solid when he saw what he now held. It was one of the Atashi books titled "Please Find Me!" A sad smile sneaked across his face thinking back to the first time he had given Chi a gift. He wrapped his arms around the book, holding it close to his heart. His eyes were clenched shut with tears running down his cheeks. For a brief moment, he felt like Chi was with him once again.

There was a sudden ringing from the phone. Normally, it would have been the perky Sumomo but ever since Chi's death Hideki couldn't bring himself to be near Persacoms again that is if he were able to avoid them, whenever possible…

He picked up the phone and heard a familiar voice. "Hideki! Man this is bad, really bad!" shouted Ueda with a hint of sadness but a definite feel of anger. Hideki had to clench his ear in pain, the voice had been so screeching.

"What is it?" Hideki asked politely. He knew something was terribly wrong. Normally Ueda would respect Hideki's pathetic state, he wouldn't call unless something bad had really happened.

"It's Yumi! She hasn't been home for two days now. I know something must have happened, she would of told me if she was going somewhere, that's just the kind of girl she is…" Ueda calmed his tone. "Hideki, will you help me look for her?"

"Of course, let's meet at your bakery…" Hideki started. He couldn't help it but he had a real bad feeling about this. "We'll start there, that's where she was last, right?" Hideki asked.

There was a long pause, a moment of silence. "Yes, but how did you know that?" Ueda asked seemingly surprised. Come to think of it, Hideki wasn't quite sure himself. He had to quickly make up an excuse, what mattered now was to find Yumi.

"Oh, she called me a few nights ago to check up on me, that's all," Hideki tried his best not to sound like he was hiding something. In a way it was the truth, Yumi had called three weeks ago, but had never told him her whereabouts. She was really worried he would try to kill himself again. Her senpai had been suicidal lately. She knew what everyone else didn't. Hideki was quite depressed since Chi's death, so very depressed.

How did he know? He didn't…he just said it. Or rather something forced those words out. He didn't know what, but what mattered now was to find Yumi. If he lost another friend to death…he shivered at the thought.

-

Hideki ran passed the busy streets, pushing and shoving people out of the way. Normally, he'd be nicer to pedestrians but someone dear was missing. Who knows what might have happened. He finally caught up with Ueda, who had started to show signs of middle age. Still, despite the wrinkles and beginnings of a receding hairline it was still the same nice guy.

"Hideki! Thanks for coming, I really appreciate this…I know it's a…" Ueda started but Hideki interrupted.

"Oh don't worry about that man, we're friends after all?" Ueda smiled but quickly turned deadly serious. He looked back at the shop, frowning. Hideki decided it wasn't time to converse. They searched and searched, but no clues ever showed up. It was getting very late and windy, the streets were finally dying down.

They stopped at a mini-mart, one that Hideki had once started to go into but realized he was flat broke. Thanks to Chi…thanks to Chi he had found his reason to be. He shook the memories off to focus on the now. "We'll find her…" Hideki reassured Ueda. He only stared blankly into space.

Hideki looked off into the distant sky, clear as ever despite the city lights blocking out the beauty. That's right, he had been represented in the Atashi books not only as a green figure but as a star too. That's where he got the idea of what to put on Chi's grave, in hopes that Chi would at least be with him in spirit. Of course that was only possible if you believed a Persacom had a soul…

She did have a soul, he convinced himself of that. Artificial body yeah, but still such a sweet and caring mind, it wasn't just her program allowing her to do those things for him. No, it couldn't just be a will programmed into her, she had to have a soul. Of course, that's only if you believed…

Did Hideki believe in any kind of religion? Did he hope? Yeah, he hoped like anyone else but was ready to face whatever facts may lay in wait. Of course, no normal religion would probably see a creation of man as ever being alive. It was something that couldn't be alive simply because it was crafted by man and not of any Deity or God. Of course, who cared how you were created? As long as you proved you had a life, you would prove to have been alive? Right?

Hideki shook his head, trying to focus on the now. Yumi was missing and he didn't want to see Ueda go through losing a loved one twice. Come to think of it, he had lost his parents a long time ago as well. How did this guy continue living?

-

"Hideki, Pantsu is broken…please fix him?" Chi's eyes had looked deep into Hideki with a smile. Hideki couldn't help but feel sad at that exact moment.

"Chi…I'm sorry…" Hideki started.

Chi was puzzled by the look of concern. "Hideki, Hideki is making my heart hurt…why are you sorry?" Chi asked.

"Chi, Pantsu isn't a thing…not a machine. It's a living creature that has died. Unlike you, he can't be fixed. I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do for him now…" Chi's eyes filled with tears. It was something Hideki wasn't used to seeing, he knew she had mentally cried before but now thanks to that program, Persacom's were given emotion or rather the ability to show them.

"Will…Hideki die…too?" She asked. Hideki didn't want to face this anymore. "Chi…chi is very sad…"

Hideki smiled gently. "Chi, even though living things die, some people believe that there is something called a soul. It's supposedly what makes living things a living thing. When I die, I would still live on because of my soul…" Chi pounced at him.

"Chiiii! Chi doesn't want Hideki to die!" She knocked him down like always, causing yet another bump on the head. They embraced for a long time. This was yet more proof to Hideki that Chi was a living being, right? "Does Chi have a soul?" she asked ever so innocently.

Hideki froze for a moment. "Well, some people don't think you do…but I know for a fact you do!" Hideki said unaware of the risks involved in this statement. "Besides, it's unfair for them to say you don't when there are people out there who don't even believe they have one…" Hideki finished.

"Chi…Chi wants to be together forever with Hideki!" She screamed. It was surprising because she usually never raised her voice above her gentle tone. Hideki embraced her for a long time.

"We'll always be together, forever!" Hideki whispered.

-

Awaking from the memory, they made their way back to Tirol after hours of searching. "I'm sorry I wasn't much more help to you…" Hideki said. Ueda smiled softly still with a hint of sadness. As they departed ways Hideki was worried sick about Yumi. Of course he could only imagine what Ueda was going through right now.

After awhile, Hideki was getting a weird calm feeling. It was a really nice feeling, a familiar one. As he was about to makes his way to the apartment, something stopped him from doing so.

"Hideki!"

He heard his name being called from an alleyway. He thought he saw something in the corner of his eye but when he entered the alleyway, there was no one. "That's strange…I could of sworn I heard someone calling my name-" He started but quickly his eyes filled with terror.

There on the ground, was the green Persacom. Still deactivated but it was defiantly Yumi's little Persacom. This sent a shiver through Hideki's body. Something foul was defiantly up.

---

Chobits owned by Clamp & Geneon, not me!


	2. Chapter 2 Regretting Life

**Regretting Life**

The wind picked up, pushing Hideki slightly. He had to position himself up to keep from falling. He wasn't ready to return home, nor did he want to bring his new clue to Ueda. It wasn't easy, dealing with something like this. Securing the mobile Persacom in his pocket he leaned back on the bench taking out his smokes, lighting a cig up. It was kind of funny. He had never been one for this kind of thing but ever since life seemed so pointless…

The saddest thing, the thing that made Hideki hurt the most was the way he treated her that day. The day Chi died, he hadn't been so nice to her. Sure, he hadn't intended to be so mean or neglecting but the test that day pressured him so. Of course that was really no excuse. "Chi, I'm really not playing around. If I don't study, I'm not going to ever get into college I want." He had yelled at her. Chi frowned, and quietly snuck away from him. Something Chi had never done before, she had never felt the need to but Hideki's fierce attitude of late was scaring her. Hideki didn't notice as he studied away, ever hoping for that scholarship. "I'm done…" He finally started, "Hey Chi, you want to go see a movie with me? Chi?" He asked out for her but no answer ever came.

"Why the hell did I hurt you, why the fuck didn't I save you?" He cried into the night.

The man had feminine features but was defiantly a man. Yumi could barely make out her assailant. She was bound and gagged awkwardly in the back of the van. The last thing she could remember was a pain in the back of her head. She just left Tirol to come visit Hideki in person. She was really worried about him, of course now she was really worried for herself. What did this man want with her? It couldn't be anything good. She looked into the mirror and saw his eyes, kindly looking but for some reason looked lifeless. "Oh good, I see your awake" he smiled. "You know, you're quite pretty, why anyone would want to cover up those limbs of yours…well it just makes me sad. Yeah, I had a good look at ya when you fell to the ground. You looked like an angel, so very pretty…" He would keep looking back and forth making sure he was doing all right in the traffic as he entertained his victim.

Yumi stared deeply for a moment in the lifeless yet kind gaze. The man had blonde hair, and one earring in place. He looked rather emotional, or at the very least effeminate. It looked like there was even a hint of makeup. She tried to say something but was gagged. "Oh, don't worry girly. We'll remove that as soon as we get back home. You can speak all you want, just make sure it's in pain, for me, kay? He laughed. It might look to other drivers that he was simply smugly talking to himself, or perhaps he was some kind of loon with a song stuck in his head.

Yumi had only wanted to check up on her senpai, but now it looked like she may never see him again or Ueda for that matter. Of course, the reality of her situation was only about to set in once she made it to this man's home. This man, she did not know was a murderer of the worst kind. He was one who got his kicks in killing. It wasn't a matter of revenge or vengeance. No, the only reason he wanted to kill was for fun, to merely get his kicks.

Yumi looked around her surroundings but couldn't see anything but a bucket and some other assortments she didn't recognize. She closed her eyes remembering three weeks ago, she did want to talk to Hideki. It however wasn't just the suicide issue she wanted to speak with him about but never got the courage to. She remembered back to that call.

"Hideki…" She spoke into the phone. She was sad but getting angry too, but how was she supposed to act? How was she supposed to respond to this? "Well whatever, I'm coming over!" She warned.

Hideki didn't want her over though; he promised he wouldn't do it. Of course that wasn't a guarantee he wouldn't do it. "It's all right…I'm not going to. Please believe me," he said. He heard sniffling in the background. "What's the matter? Yumi…I'm not important to you." He assured her.

There was a sudden angry sigh from the other side of the line. "Senpai! You're an idiot," as she hung up the receiver defiantly in tears. Hideki sat back, only lost in thought. Feeling guilty but still it had been the truth. He wasn't important at all…Yumi sat the phone back down. It was time to go to work after all but still worried about Hideki. She also had a bad feeling something terrible was going to happen; she had a real bad feeling. Also, some very strange things have been happening lately. She wanted to talk to Ueda about it but he was too busy. She tried talking to Hideki about it but she sure she was only really worried about Hideki.

Still, the event the other day had frightened her quite a bit. She looked out the window in a worried gaze. Senpai, I hope you find peace she thought…

Yumi sat up to a more comfortable position, despite not even having control of her legs. Still it was better than laying face flat into the van's cold floor. She wondered who this man was and why he had taken her. Couldn't it of been someone else? Why her? She started to cry.

Hideki woke to the sounds of sirens. Apparently he had fallen asleep on the bench despite his best efforts. He looked to see what kind of sirens they were. Police cars…they were zooming past him. Curious enough, he had to check it out. When he made his way past the crowd he saw it, the lifeless body of a young woman gorily sprawled across the cement. He quickly turned away reminded of Chi's mangled body that day…

The crowd was becoming too big for the Police. They quickly set it up to where none of the crowd could see the investigation being handled. One of the men warned the crowd there was nothing more to see and should move along. He wondered if Ueda had already tried calling the police but usually they were never any real help. Hideki ran to the nearest store that allowed for access to the bathrooms.

He made his way to the stall letting the vomit escape. He had never seen a site this gruesome since Chi's death, but of course that was an artificial…no it was still Chi's body. He would feel just as sick at a sight be it a human or persacom's death. He was sure he would have thrown up, if it hadn't been someone so close to him, the wires and trinkets that he never even imagined subsided in Chi was everywhere. He had at least rushed to her side, apologizing as the life faded from her eyes. She was able to say one last thing to him, "Chi…Sss…love…Zap…zutto…ssS…Hideki…" before finally fading from life. Despite her scrambled words, it was very clear what she had meant.

"I will love you, forever…"

Hideki chuckled, and then stared at the pathetic young man in the mirror. "Yeah…right…were you even real?" Tears were beginning to form in his tired eyes. Why did I continue living? What is it that drives me to be? He tried closing his eyes but then suddenly opened them as Chi's face came rushing back to memory. Then the argument began again…

"Chi was artificial, nothing more than a walking talking doll," the dark thought chirped. "Even so, she had proven her love," the nicer side of his mind yelped. "Yeah, love that was programmed into her…" the dark thought argued back. "Still, am I not myself programmed to love through years of evolution?" the nice thought said. "Yes, but you are different, you are alive…conscious…no matter how much data is put into a machine, computer, much less a Persacom it will never be alive…ever," the dark thought said. "Chi, she acted on feelings…even if that was data making her act it out, she still followed them with her own choice…" the nice thought said.

Hideki closed his eyes again remembering how Chi had saved his life, all because she didn't want Hideki to end up like Pantsu, the damn puppy. "Of course…even if it was programmed into her, that was her own will, her very soul…" Hideki comforted himself with those words, but still no matter how many times he told himself that…

"Data…a program that tells it to do so, as it has learned, doesn't make her real," the dark thought attacked. "They are just machines, personal computers made to act like humans, but no matter how much technology is put into something, it will never be. Never be…it will never be…"

Hideki punched the glass breaking it into many pieces. With his hand bleeding he picked up a shard and brought it up to his neck. It doesn't take much to die, and I've no more meaning…I lost meaning a long time ago. "Yes, meaning…you have none, that's right…" the dark thoughts were winning.

As he was about to attempt suicide, a burst from the door revealed a Persacom walking with its master. They were laughing. They seemed rather well acquainted…they stopped and stared at Hideki. He was about to run out of there when the Persacom asked what was the matter. He stared shocked by the statement, how cruel fate had been. Persacoms were always showing their feelings for him, even if he wasn't sure their feelings were real anymore. "Sir, are you all right?" it asked again. Hideki ran out of there as fast as he could feeling the cool morning air brush up against his red cheeks.

They aren't real, they never were. I loved a doll, that's all!

"Your only telling yourself that because…because…you don't want to hurt anymore…" Hideki thought. He stopped cold breathing deeply from exhaustion. It had been just his thought, but it was a very sentimental and understanding one.

Before he could realize it, he felt himself pushed by soft hands. It was a familiar feeling, two gentle palms pressed against him. Whatever it was had just saved his life. For now he faced the side of the speeding police vehicle in hot pursuit of another car. It came to a screeching halt with the terrified look of the driver made visible to Hideki. The cop jumped out and raced to him. "Are you all right bud?" He asked politely. Hideki hadn't realized it but he had been running in the street. His deep thoughts were beginning to affect his health.

Hideki tried catching his breath. "Oh…it's quite all right. It was my fault to begin with, but where's my hero?" Hideki asked. The policeman looked confused for a moment.

"Hero?"

"Yeah, you know…the who ever that pushed me out of the way. You know my hero, I felt myself pushed out of the way," Hideki answered. The policeman still looked puzzled.

"Sir, there was no one in the street besides you." He said. Hideki froze but could have sworn he felt a gentle push. Hideki gave an equally flabbergasted look to the cop.

"Oh, silly me…I guess it was just the wind," he reassured. "So…who was that you were chasing?" Hideki asked trying to change the subject. The policeman paused for a moment still curious but decided not to pursue it any more than he had to.

"Just a low-life punk who's been speeding for the past half hour or so…allow me to introduce myself, I'd like to formally apologize for almost killing you just now," he said. "My name is Paul Richards." He finished. Hideki looked at him for a moment.

"Paul?" He asked.

"Yeah, a strange name right? I'm not originally from Japan…"

Yumi stared back at her kidnapper. She didn't want to fall asleep, but it was too hard not to. She was too tired to fight it. She finally gave into slumber. Her dream was filled with images of her past. Moments she had hung out with her senpai. Moments she had scraped a knee and her dad was there to help her. Moments like that seeped in like crazy, all the way up until the moment of her kidnapping.

Fear installed in her. She was crying in darkness, a representation of the van no doubt. As she cried arms wrapped around her. Motherly and caring arms embraced her. She couldn't make out the hands, only a transparent faded shape of hands. It told her everything was going to be all right…the dream was now a safe heaven. Even if it wasn't real, it was still better than being at the van, kidnapped.

Hideki took a sip of his coffee turning to look at Paul. "So, your not from around here?"

The instant friends sat near each other in the café. The cop was surprised at how well he got along with this young man. "Nah, I'm from America…" He started. Sipping his soft drink as he looked at Hideki to study his youthful features. "I love Japan's scenery anyway."

Hideki frowned staring down at Yumi's persacom. Where was she? He hoped she was all right, of course who knows if he'd be able to save her. He wasn't able to save Chi, why would he be able to save Yumi? If he couldn't even save a persacom, then a human was defiantly out of the matter of being saved by Hideki. "So, you're here just for the scenic beauty?" He asked the cop.

Looking like Hideki had hit the nail on the head, the cop turned away for a moment. "Heh, it seems I can't hide my fears…no there is another reason," he sat his drink down. "Actually, I'm hiding from someone, I kind of hurt her." He looked down at the counter.

"You don't have to say any more than you want to." Hideki spoke softly. The cop gave a kind of understanding gaze.

The cop then laughed. "You know, it wouldn't really bug me, I'm so far away from her that I almost feel like I never lived with her." He scratched his rugged chin.

Hideki stared away at a customer walking in with a dog. "So, then it's someone you loved? Your wife perhaps?" He asked.

"Bingo…my wife, I kind of chickened out of going to our wedding," he closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't know why I didn't go that day. After that we had many arguments and I decided to leave…I wasn't good enough for her." He then opened his gaze at Hideki who was staring at young blonde woman with a dog. "I see your thoughts are on someone close to you as well…"

Hideki clenched his mug as Paul said that. "Heh…we're so alike…aren't we?" They both laughed as if they had known each other for years. It was funny, Hideki was always making friends, as that was the kind of guy he was. Though he never felt like anyone was ever really his friend, he was merely playing along with the game. Of course that didn't matter because he always had Chi. However, that wasn't the case now. He was forced into a very lonely existence.

I mean there was Shinbo, Ueda, Minaru, and of course Yumi he thought but quickly remembered they were only friends. They weren't people who looked for meaning in him. Only Chi ever made him feel so special. He hadn't spoken with Minaru or Shinbo for almost a year now, the last time he had spoken with Shinbo was to return Sumomo after the accident.

"So, what's up with that little Persacom?" Paul the cop asked. He had noticed Hideki playing with it before but didn't understand what was going on. "Oh my…you're bleeding?"

Hideki smiled. He felt like he could tell this guy the truth with how fast they had become friends. He decided not to. "Oh this? I just cut myself on some broken glass that's all," he started as he fiddled with the mobile machine. "And this, is a friend of mine's Persacom. You see she's been missing for a few days and I'm really worried about her." He stated.

"Oh, is her name Yumi?" The cop asked.

"Yeah…but how did you know?"

"Mr. Ueda called in, I've also been acquainted with his wife on a few occasions at Tirol. I just love European sweets. I wanted to help in the investigation but my abilities only allow me so much…" Paul looked down in sadness.

"Would you mind helping me look for her?" Hideki asked politely. The cop nodded in agreement.

"Besides, I'm a little more worried about missing case files more than some young speeding punk, you see there's been a lot of kidnappings lately." The cop looked at Hideki to make sure he was paying attention. "We've been following these kidnappings…only to find the victims before it's too late." He finished.

Hideki's eyes widened at the statement. "Victims? Then you must mean…"

The cop nodded. "Yeah, victims…the majority of missing persons this past year have been found been found gagged, beaten, and tortured gorily. We've been looking for the murderer but so far we haven't gotten any leads…" The cop turned away.

"There was another murder this morning. Not too far from where I picked you up…"

Hideki knew what he had saw wasn't just an accident. The marks and bruises on the girl's body were no accidents. He had been pretty sure of foul play. "Well, here's my contact number if you need me. I'll be keeping a lookout for any suspicious activities…oh and if you'd like I can bring you to the stations clue room. Though not legally…but hey I'm actually a cop who's in it for justice, not substance." With that the cop left.

Hideki looked back at the young maiden who had long flowing hair much like Chi's. He was pretty sure the breed of the dog had been the same as Pantsu, the puppy. The woman looked at Hideki noticing his glances. He quickly turned away.

She left, apparently freaked out by Hideki. He just drank the last of his coffee. The television that had been airing whatever event suddenly was interrupted by a newsbreak. "A woman was found dead this morning murdered out on the streets. Police are still unsure if this has any connection the notorious drag and gag slasher. The drag and gag slasher is still at large, police would like any info concerning…" Hideki got up and left the restaurant.

He wasn't in the mood to hear more about death, he had faced it all this morning.

---

Chobits owned by Clamp and Geneon, not me!


	3. Chapter 3 Hope

**Hope…**

Hideki made his way back to Ueda's Bakery. Surly it was open by now. Of course he couldn't care less. He was beginning to lose track of all time. Time seemed to be nothing more than a liability. Sure, time was important for people who had somewhere to go, somewhere where they had meaning. Hideki didn't have that anymore.

He passed the familiar steps. Steps he used to pass every time he would leave home and come back, whether it is for work or school. This was also…this was also where he apologized to her. That night she was killed, saved by her. Why had she saved him? She didn't want him to end up like Pantsu…

For no real reason, Hideki fell to his knees. He cried holding himself tightly.

He tried pretending for a moment he had never known Chi. He was pretty sure if he had his gun, he would of finally found the strength to pull the trigger. However, he just couldn't bring himself to ever forget her. Chi was always on his mind, no matter what. Even during the smallest or most important situation she was there.

"Hideki…"

He heard his name called again. He shot up, covered in darkness. He ran and ran but could not find an exit. There was nothing. This was the darkness that had been plaguing him since Chi's death. He heard his name called for yet again. He screamed out asking for the presence to show itself.

It never did, it just kept calling his name. The voice, where had he heard it before? It sounded sad, it sounded happy, and it sounded most of all, familiar. Then he saw Yumi crying, a light surrounded her. Hideki looked at the light, he couldn't make out what it was. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had to go to her and this unknown presence.

He didn't know if this entity was good or bad, he only knew this light gave off the feeling he'd been getting lately. It was a feeling he would get every time he would even think of suicide, and this feeling only made him think of Chi more and more.

Yumi stared up at Hideki. She smiled at him. She didn't seem to notice the glowing entity but yet…

"Hideki? Isn't it wonderful?" Yumi spoke.

Hideki looked down at her. He was speechless, what was he supposed to say. Then without warning the entity removed itself from Yumi and wrapped itself around Hideki. "Who…what are you?" However he could no longer move. The presence was too strong, it's hands, and if that's what they were slowly touched his cheeks.

"Hideki…"

Hideki, Hideki…it sounded just like the voice he'd been hearing lately. Rather it was more of a feeling that spoke to him. It was hard to explain, but he felt at peace with this entity. Yumi got up and looked at them. She was crying…

"Please find me…"

Hideki awoke on his couch and groggily looked around. He was confused for a moment, the last thing he remembered before being enveloped by darkness was being at those damn steps. He yawned and realized there was something on his lap. It was that same book, the one that had fallen from the shelf titled "Please find me…"

He looked at the clock. It was evening, around four or five he guessed. Confused he decided to get a shower. After which he would give Paul a call. Once up he looked back down at the book now placed on the table.

"Please find me, huh?" He spoke.

Yumi saw her senpai. She had been saved, found by him. However, he faded just as fast as he had come. She yelled out for him. "Please find me…" She whispered before returning to reality.

Yumi awoke as she heard the tires screech to a halt. It was just a dream…but she could have sworn Hideki was there. Though she couldn't think about it any further. She was awake. She heard a siren beep. Had he been pulled over? Yes, all she had to do was make enough noise and…the man had however pushed some kind of curtain to keep her out of view. This wasn't going to be easy to get the person's attention.

She heard the driver speak calmly to the cop; apparently his taillight had gone out or something like that. She tried moving but couldn't. Then finally the cop asked to look in the back of his van but the man insisted he wasn't hiding anything.

Then she heard a whirling noise. She couldn't figure out what it was. "Hey, what's with those eyes-ugh…" she heard him choked to death.

Then the body was thrown back there with her. She quickly looked up at the feminine monster that now had glowing red eyes. They slowly faded back to normal.

"Sorry you had to see that girly…"

Yumi was frightened and only backed away slowly. She didn't know what to think of this. "Your…not human?"

He smiled calmly at her. "Heh, the fear in your eyes pleases me," he closed the door. "Before I kill you, I guess there'd be no harm in telling you everything. All that matters now is this disc and how to rid the world of you pathetic humans…" He raised a shiny disc to her.

-

"I'm glad you came," Paul Richards motioned Hideki to follow him. "Here's some coffee, it looks like you really need some sleep, man." He said.

Hideki laughed. They made their way to the evidence room. "So, what's so mysterious about the drag and gag slasher?" Hideki had heard news reports on him time and time again, though no one was sure what he looked like, if he was even a he.

Paul stopped cold. "A crafty bastard, hell he's so crafty that we can't even be sure if he's human," Paul started. He gave a long sigh of anger. "This bastard, he goes around kidnapping young maidens, and doing some pretty gruesome stuff to them."

Hideki winced as they finally entered the evidence room. Paul led him to a box full of reports and photos. It had big red letters in bold across it. Confidential it read. "Not even sure he's human…?" Hideki asked seemingly amazed.

Paul turned to Hideki. "There's not a single piece of evidence that these young women were even touched by anything physical. You see, no matter how many times we go over the crime scenes and evidence, we can't find a hair, blood, anything…nothing."

Hideki's eyes twitched. He was handed some of the photos to see what some of the things he had done, it was pretty clear why he was called the drag and gag slasher. Blood trailed from each of the victim's body indicating some kind of dragging, and all of them had been gagged.

All died with a look of fear in their eyes.

"Maybe it's…" Hideki started.

Paul gave a look of insight. "Maybe it's…?" Curious to know what Mr. Motosuwa was about to suggest.

Hideki shook his head. "No, never mind. Forget I said anything…they don't have feelings after all," he said. He looked down at the mobile Persacom he held. "I just hope I'm able to find Yumi, I really hope she's all right." He finished.

"I'm sure she's all right." He reassured him. Still, he couldn't help feeling curious about Hideki's suggestion.

-

The shadowy lovers were awakened by the sound of beeping from Zima's radar. He quickly tried to get a lock on the signal but to no avail. It quickly faded just as fast as it had made itself known.

The two dark figures embraced each other, looking on at the sky. Zima smiled at her, knowing that he'd soon tell her how he felt exactly. He petted Dita's hair smiling. He knew she already had feelings for him but he wasn't in any rush to let her know that he knew quite yet. There was still the important matter of locating the disc. "Do you think it's him?" She asked.

Zima took his glasses off, staring off into the distance. He frowned at the thought of it being possible. "That Persacom was deactivated a year ago, there's no way it's him…" He comforted her. Dita closed her eyes to return to her slumber. Zima kissed her lightly on the forehead. "If it is him, I fear all humans are going to cease to exist…" He put his glasses back on to keep track of any other mysterious signals. "Even so, that would be nice to be able to bypass that annoying protective system the humans put on us…that I'll salute you for."

-

Hideki entered the Bakery to find Ueda sulking in the back. He had wanted to come here much earlier but because of whatever had happened, he never made it. He had awakened in his own apartment. Ueda was about to close up shop and smiled at Hideki. He smiled back feeling uneasy. "Hey man, I'm sorry I haven't found her yet…but I did find this." He showed Ueda the mobile Persacom.

Ueda frowned but then smiled again. "I'm sure she's all right, I'll be helping you search for her all day tomorrow."

Hideki frowned at him. "Ueda, how…how do you go on like this? Didn't you miss Yumi, the persacom when she died?" He scoffed. "I mean, how did you…"

Ueda smiled calmly at him. "Hideki…I miss her too." He stated.

Hideki looked at him quizzically. Ueda always managed to warm his heart when able. "What do you mean?"

Ueda looked at him. "Chi…Yumi…they were wonderful girls, they always managed to warm my heart. I will always remember Yumi the persacom and believe me, it's better to remember and hurt than it is to forget them. It's like that old saying, it is better to have loved and lost than to have ever loved." He paused.

"Chi…I miss her so much, Ueda. I don't know about you but I can never fall in love again, she was my one and only true love," he turned to hide his forming tears.

Ueda jumped up on a table to put himself in a more comfortable position. He looked away from Hideki. "You know Hideki, you'll never forget her. In fact your memories of her will only strengthen."

Hideki winced. "Do you…think you'll ever see her again?" He asked with his eyes clenched tight. Ueda looked at him trying to figure out the best way to handle this.

"Hideki, it doesn't matter because she saved you. What's important is what do you think she wanted? What did she want for you? I think she wanted you to live, she saved you man…just like Yumi saved me. Chi would wanted you to be happy…live your life for her."

"Yeah…" Hideki disappointingly agreed. "Please excuse me…" He left to go to the rest room. He splattered water on his face. He stared into the mirror blinking at the man who he didn't recognize any more.

"Chi…I love you." There was a sudden ache in his heart. He spoke into the empty rest room confessing his love for her but no reply ever came.

---

Chobits owned by Clamp, not me!


	4. Chapter 4 Night with Su

**PPSU, A Night with Su**

The deliveryman looked around the damp cold storage room. He screamed in pain as his leg bumped up against something. "Damn it, this place is a mess." He looked down to see a humanoid computer, a Persacom. This had been his first time ever seeing one, confused why it was out he bent over to get a better look.

He studied the lifeless machine. Lifeless as it was it was still so very human. If it weren't for the ears, pointy and colored, he would have been sure this was nothing more than the most beautiful soundly sleeping woman in the entire world. The man saw his face reflect off of the metallic ears, seeing a distorted and much skinnier version of his self. He petted her hair to pull back suddenly.

"It's so real…"

Suddenly the deliveryman felt a warm hand on his back. Startled he quickly turned to find a young man clad in white, one of the workers no doubt. This man stared at him for a moment, almost as if to see if he had known this man or not. "Of course, " he finally said. "She's a Persacom, one of our newest models. She's so knew that we don't even release her for another year," he continued while looking over at the Persacom. "This one was activated just a few hours ago, but due to technical problems we were forced to safe guard and manually shut her off."

"Shut her off?"

The knowledgeable young man in white smiled. "This one was a little feisty when we woke her," the man yawned. "There was a glitch of some kind, causing her to go haywire." He finished.

"Haywire, you mean like in one of them movies where the machine kills its creator?"

The young man chuckled. "No no, that could never happen. There's really nothing to worry about, though Persacoms do funk up a bit every now and then, so we do have our precautions. Such as the PPSU chip."

"PSP? What's that?" The deliveryman was flabbergasted, lost in the dark and just had to ask.

"PPSU, Persacom Protection System Unit," the young man answered. "It's the chip that all Persacoms are built with. Persacoms are given a will to an extent to better the customer's experience, but this will has gotten so advanced that we've been getting more and more careful with how we handle things."

The deliveryman still looked confused, or rather more amazed than anything else. "Your saying these Persacoms are alive?"

The young man in the white suit gave a chuckle smiling. "No, though we are very proud of the functionality of these machines, but that's all they are, machines."

"Nonetheless, man, this thing is so realistic…I mean wow." The deliveryman was practically speechless.

As they made their way out the deliveryman almost dropped one of the boxes, he stared back at her. He was still unsure if it was really a Persacom or not. She looked so human, and very pretty. When he returned for the last of the cargo he noticed the machine was still there. He decided to investigate more of her appearance.

He straightened her up, setting her against a wall of boxes. He ran his hand over her hair still amazed how realistic it felt. It was somewhat short and neatly wrapped around her neck, clashing with the brown of the cargo. "Red head…" he whispered to himself.

He brought his hand down, but before continuing he looked around for the night shift worker, the young man clad in white. He brought his hand to her neck, caressing it. "Wow, even the skin is realistic." He said.

Then he felt something, it didn't feel right. It was on the back of her neck but it didn't feel like her neck yet it still seemed to be made of the same fake skin. He pressed it and heard a whirling noise. Her eyes opened and she shot to life. The deliveryman jumped away from her, or rather it.

She was more beautiful than ever, her eyes filled with amber tones. She looked around the room almost as if confused. She looked straight at the husky man in front of her. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice sounded like that of an angel to the deliveryman. It was soft, gentle, and sounded almost as if there was a hint of fear in her voice.

The man gave her a look, just as confused as hers. "I'm just the deliveryman, I didn't mean to activate you." His face turned red.

She stared at him for a moment. "So, you don't work here?" She asked.

The deliveryman shook his head, and slowly made his way closer to her. "I'm just the deliveryman, I came here to pick up the new cargo, first day on the job!" He answered.

She looked down in what appeared to be sadness. "Can I ask you a favor?" The deliveryman was confused and amazed. He didn't know Persacoms were even capable of asking questions. He shook his head yes. "Can I come with you?" The deliveryman's eyes widened, was she actually saying this?

He stared at her for a moment. He got up and started to leave but felt something grab him. Her hands clenched his pant leg. He looked down at her, almost feeling bad for her only to remember she was a machine. "I'm sorry but I'd be stealing from this company." He said.

She stood up, revealing she was taller than him. She now looked down at him, with a look of some sort of lifeless sadness. "Please, I don't want to be here anymore. They don't let me leave and they take me apart every now and then, and they shut me off and I got to a dark place…I don't like it." She said.

He looked at her for a moment. This wasn't a Persacom; no she was talking like some sort of girl who'd been cooped up in the loony bin for years. She pounced at him, "Please let me go with you!" She begged causing the deliveryman to blush even more.

He looked into her puppy dog eyes. He couldn't help but feel disheartened. He had heard stories of Persacoms and how people had been falling in love with them. Now he saw why, they were so life like. Even if it was just a Persacom she seemed to show a need to get out of there. What was he supposed to do? Every time he tried to leave, her embrace only got tighter, and she only got cuter.

He had never been this close to someone before. His face now beat red. He had always wanted to get close to someone like this but his weight and appearance kept him from doing so. He thought for a moment, if he took her he'd be stealing but if he didn't he would feel guilty about it later on, even if she was just a product.

Finally he decided, "Well, you can follow me on your own?" She shook her head yes. "That way, I can't really get into trouble for that, now can I? Let's hurry out of here!" He ordered trying his best to balance the heavy boxes.

They snuck carefully to his truck. He almost dropped the boxes again but the Persacom girl lifted them up with ease. "Here, let me help you." She suggested. He looked on in amazement. He didn't really want to strain her but he was too amazed at her strength to say anything about it.

They got into the truck. The man looked at her, still speechless. "Do you have a name?" He asked. She stared at him for a moment, confused.

"Name?"

"You know, a name, something that you refer to someone or something as, a name." He answered.

She looked even more confused, then saddened. "The lab technicians referred to me as serial number 4100ZXT but…"

"Well, I won't be able to remember all that. How bout I give you a name for now?" He asked. She shook her head in agreement.

He tried remembering what the doc had told him earlier, PPSU? "I know, how bout PPSU, Su for short, I think that's a nice name for you," he paused. She looked confused. "It's a chip inside of you, I really don't know the specifics but I think it sounded pretty cool. It's a protective system inside of all Persacoms I guess, and it…" He looked at her. She almost looked as if she was about to cry.

"I know what it is…but, no never mind. I like it…do you have a name?" She asked him.

He stared at her for a moment but decided not to ask about it. "Oh, my name is Kentaro Iwata, you can just call me Ken though." He answered.

She looked at him and smiled. "Ken?"

With that he started the truck up.

The young man returned to the cargo room to put 4100ZXT away but didn't find her. He knew she wasn't active but, how had she…unless… He could only assume the worst of the deliveryman.

The young man took out and spoke into his mobile communication unit. "We have a code yellow, I repeat code yellow. Product 4100ZXT has been stolen."

-

As they made their way past the many streetlights, PPSU or Su seemed curious at every single corner always asking what's this and what's that. She was filled with many questions of the outside world. Ken was surprised how little she knew yet somehow had managed to speak as fluently as any other normal girl could.

"Why were you packing boxes up? Where are you taking them?" She suddenly asked. He looked at her, noticing at how cute she was when she asked questions. She had this look, a look that every time he saw it made his heart race. Was he…falling in love?

"Well, I deliver products to stores. That's what those boxes are full of, and someone has to do it. It's my meaning in the world I guess…" He almost missed the stop sign.

She looked over at him. "Meaning?"

"Yeah, umm it's your purpose in life, something you gotta do, ya know?" He tried his best to answer.

Su looked back out her window, noting the clear night sky. "Do…do I have a meaning?" She asked.

Ken the deliveryman winced. Was a Persacom really capable of asking a question like that? He turned to her for a moment. "Well, you're a persacom. You bring joy to the world, people buy and use you for various things."

She looked at him with a disheartened look. "Joy…is this…a good thing?"

"Well, Persacoms are useful to have around, and can do all sorts of things. Though I've never really been able to afford one, in fact you're the first one I've ever seen in my entire life. Lately though, people have been conversing about Persacoms."

"Persacom?"

"Yeah, that's what you are. Anyway, as useful and joyful as you are, people seem to be losing touch with each other because of Persacoms." Ken answered.

"Why?" She asked.

"Well, you see, there are some pretty weird humans out there. Lately people have been neglecting their spouses to be with Persacoms. They take each other for granite and…" Su started to cry. "What? What's the matter?"

Su looked at him, puppy eyed again. "Please, never take me back there!" She pleaded. He looked at her for a moment.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to…" He pulled his way into some kind of parking lot for a restaurant. "Would you like to accompany me?" She agreed to follow.

Su positioned herself across from Ken. She noted all of the people, and Persacoms. It seemed to her, all Persacoms were nothing more than some kind of pet. Kentaro Iwata looked at her, only able to see her as human. Was this really a Persacom? Had this being that asked such deep questions such as her meaning in life really be nothing more than an appliance?

He felt his heartbeat race every time he looked at her. A friend of his had warned him not to get too involved with a Persacom. It had ruined his marriage; of course that was his own fault. Its not like Ken ever got close to anyone, so who would he be hurting?

"Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked her.

She looked away from all the people to look at him. "It's really noisy, it's…happier than the labs," she paused and smiled. "Noise…it is a happy feeling." She inquired. The deliveryman smiled at her. She noted the food he would eat, he would consume a lot of it, though gracefully. He seemed to enjoy food.

"Do you enjoy food?"

He swallowed the last of his fish. "Yes…and no," he looked out the window to check on his truck from afar, despite the darkness. He noted some kind of animal, a cat perhaps scampering under it. "Food is my happiness but the source of my problems. The more I eat, the fatter I get and I can never get the girl, my confidence is in the dumps because of it." He explained.

"Get the girl? Fatter?"

He smiled at her, "Yeah, I can never get a date, and I'm fatter, bigger than most people."

"Date?"

"Yeah, it's when someone who likes someone else, they get together for what I think to be true happiness. However, no girl has ever wanted to go out with me, so…" He saw the look in her eyes.

"True happiness, is when two people are… together?" She asked.

"Well Su, sometimes this happiness can cause great sadness as well."

Su took a napkin and wiped his face, "Here…" she said. Kentaro blushed. "Why would such happiness cause sadness?"

He blinked and blushed at her. "Well, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the other person who is with that person hurts them, but then…sometimes you have to say goodbye to that person in the end anyway."

"Why does it happen anyway?"

"Well, it's…my life will come to an end one day. Though I'm not sure if anyone will ever miss me. You see all living things die and…well you have to say goodbye."

"Then why do people get together if it's going to hurt in the end anyway?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. It's better to live a full life with someone you love than it is not to, because that is true sadness. Life's problems teach us all kinds of things; I don't think it's for nothing. When together we can learn even more…"

"I don't understand, why would anyone want to be with anyone if they have to say goodbye?"

"Well…even when you say goodbye, you'll always have memories of that person. In a way, they kind of live on through that aspect, and eventually some people even believe you'll be met with a reunion with that person you had to say goodbye to."

"Will I have to say goodbye to you?"

Kentaro nearly choked on his sake. This was a Persacom, no way! He was sure of it now. She was alive. She had to be; no computer could ever talk like that, ever. "Yes…eventually, but what matters is how we spend our time with each other. It's better to say goodbye and have good memories than it is to live forever full of hatred towards someone. Do you not want to say goodbye?"

"Ken, you're the first person I know who's treated me like this. It is happy I feel when I'm with you, I don't want to say goodbye." She told him.

He smiled, feeling as if he'd truly been alive for the first time in years. She gave him an equally warming smile.

-

Zima looked towards the direction of the stolen property. "It's in that direction, that's where the signal is coming from," he told Dita. She nearly frowned as she followed him. "It's important we get her back, as we are always ordered to do as the humans tell us to. Even though this is bit of a distraction from our main objective."

Dita looked across at the leaping Persacom clad in black. "It's this PPSU that really keeps us from doing everything we want. Our freedom is only one step away but held back by this damn unit."

"Yes, but we do still feel love, and emotions. That we can be happy because of her…" He seemed to trail off answering her. "It really is a shame you know, that she had to die so soon."

"I just hope that young man, Mr. Motosuwa keeps her spirit alive and well. He's truly one of our allies in the end."

-

The two walked back to Kentaro's truck. As he entered the truck he noticed Su staring at something. It was the animal he had seen earlier, a stray cat. "Ken, what is this?"

He went to them, as she had already made quick friends with the feline. "This is a cat, a stray no doubt."

"Stray?"

"Yeah, it doesn't have an owner."

"Owner…Ken, do you consider to own me?"

He was surprised by the question. "Well, not legally…but then I can't really imagine owning you, more like a friend, someone I'm happy with." She smiled brightly at him. Then she hugged him, which surprised him.

"When I woke up for the first time, I saw two of my creators doing this in celebration of their success. Since then, I've always wanted them to do that to me. No matter how much I tried to get them to…they never did and treated me as nothing more than…a product. It's nice hugging you…"

Kentaro blushed and couldn't help himself. He hugged her back, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. The sun was rising, and Ken hadn't realized that he'd been up all night with Su, answering all of her questions she had.

"Well well, isn't this a lovely sight." Zima called toward the two. He jumped in front of them.

"4100ZXT, you are to return with us…" Dita ordered. "Any retaliation will result in force!"

Kentaro pushed Su behind him. "That's not her name anymore, you can't take her away from me and her name is Su!"

"I don't want to say goodbye to Ken, I'm staying with him." Su yelled at them.

"That's not our decision to make," Zima frowned at them. They reminded him of the night they had finally closed in on Chi. "You are valuable product, you must be returned to the company."

"I'm not a product, I'm just Su! I'm not going back to that loveless factory!" She yelled. Then she noticed the truck rolling back, speedily. Ken had forgot to put it back into park. Then before anyone could react, Su pushed him out of the way.

She was crushed. She had saved Ken. He cried for her, but it was too late.

-

"Well, she's been destroyed beyond repair, just put her in the dumpster out back." The young man clad in white was disappointed in the condition she returned. Had he not left the deliveryman alone…

It seemed Persacoms being crushed by automobiles seemed to be happening more often. "Hah, that's a laugh, Persacoms developing feelings and acting heriocially…" He smiled at the thought.

Later, in the dumpster when no one was around. The Persacom somehow activated itself but because of damage, all it said over and over, again and again was…

"Goodbye…goodbye…zap…goodbye…ssS…goodbye…" before it finally faded into nothingness.

-

The young man stretched himself out. "Morning already?" Hideki asked into the apartment, which was only disturbed by the scampering cat. Hideki had barely gotten any sleep, worried over Yumi. He had also been crying over Chi again, how he missed her so.

He made his way to the dresser; he looked at the photo. He looked at Chi wrapped around his neck, and Pantsu in his lap. He had loved his small family; he had even once considered adopting a kid with Chi as crazy as that sounded.

He imagined for a moment how that might of turned out. How cute Chi would have been, taking care of our child together he thought. A single tear escaped one of his eyes.

He had been happy and Chi was happy, but that happiness together no longer existed.

Then he heard it, or rather felt it again.

"Hideki!"

It was coming from outside, he had to chase it. This strange entity seemed to be wanting whatever it was, it wanted him to follow it. Or rather he felt the need to follow it, so familiar and he left the room.

---

Notes: I know, it's more of a side story but I still hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the reviews. You know who you are!

Anyway, I've already written the epilogue, and right now that's what I'm working up to. The whole story works up to that point, and I promise it's going to be a good ending, dunno if you guys will be saddened by it or not but I do think it will wrap this story up pretty good.

Chobits owned by Clamp, not me!


	5. Chapter 5 Clues

**Clues**

Hideki left his apartment. He heard the voice call out to him, begging to be followed. Then he saw it. There in the hallway was a glowing entity. When it spoke directly in front of him, it's voice made no sound. Yet, he heard it. He knew what it was saying without knowing…

"Follow…me…please… remember? Remember what?" He asked it. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" Hideki screamed out to it. He was frightened. He'd heard things like this in the movies, where some type of phantom would haunt you and it usually foretold death, perhaps this entity was the bearer of death? Was it death itself? Was he going to die soon?

Then he felt it, an overwhelming sadness. Somehow, one way or another he could feel this being's feelings. It begged and begged, "Open my heart? What is that supposed to mean?" It wrapped around him. Suddenly he felt at peace, like everything in the world didn't matter. He was happy.

"Yes…I'll follow you." He answered robotically.

Everything around the building became blurry, and the entity got clearer but it's true form still eluded Hideki but he didn't care. Happiness bounced off of this being as it held him, guiding him to wherever.

They made their way to one of the bathrooms. The entity pointed at something on the floor, blood. He had tried his best cleaning it up, but the stain never left. It was his blood. It was from when he attempted suicide for the first time. This blood, this stain was a reminder of that night. The being seemed to be…

"Crying? Why are you crying?"

He felt a great sadness enter him, and then his thoughts became dark. He was suddenly reminded of his life, and his lost love. The entity let go of him as soon as he started thinking like that yet the being still tried grabbing for him. There wasn't something right about this…but what was it?

Hideki blacked out again, feeling something pull at him from the darkness. It tugged and tugged, the entity however tried it's best to embrace him. It failed miserably, only to watch Hideki fall into the blackness that seeped from somewhere.

The dream was vivid. Hideki was surrounded my images…floating memories of his time with Chi. He looked around overwhelmed. He saw the good times, and the bad. He saw the boring times, and the fun times. Then he saw it, the image of the night he called Chi back to him.

He watched the image come to life, seeing Chi crying. The light beamed from her, giving emotions to all Persacoms. Then he saw her run toward him, and he said He'd stick with Chi. Even though she wouldn't be able to do things with him a normal girl might have been able to but…he had promised to be with her, no matter what.

Then another Hideki, an older more tired version of himself entered the dreamscape. This was how he looked now, a direct mirror of himself. Then it spoke "It wasn't worth it…you shouldn't have fallen in love."

Then another Hideki, a much younger version of himself from his prep school days appeared and argued. "Love is love, you can't help it."

The representation of his dark thoughts, the older Hideki echoed into his ear. "Love is an illusion. No one can ever truly be happy from it. Everything dies, no matter who or what it is, even the artificial. Why should you be searching for Yumi? She doesn't love you…"

Then the younger, nicer form of his good thoughts appeared in front of him. "She does love you, not the way Chi ever did. She's basically your little sister, and you care for her. That alone should be reason enough to live."

"Lies! Life is pointless, you are born and then die, from something comes nothing." The dark Hideki stated.

"But from nothing comes something!" The good Hideki whined.

Then Hideki, the real Hideki interrupted. Which seemed to surprise the other representations of Hideki. "Who cares about that? Yumi is missing, we have to find her!" The good Hideki smiled at him and faded, then the dark Hideki frowned and faded.

Then the darkness faded. He opened his eyes to find himself on a bed. "Good, your finally awake, you've been passed out for awhile." A familiar voice called to him.

He sat up to see Paul Richards, the cop who almost killed him earlier giving him a weird kind of smile.

-

The room was cool, well air-conditioned. Paul was going over something, some kind of papers. He finally looked at Hideki. "I found you passed out on the floor, mind telling me what happened?" He asked.

"I don't really know myself." Hideki replied.

Paul seemed to have some sort of conflict with thought. "Well, it looks like you'll be fine. Anyway, I was called out this morning about stolen property. I ran into an old friend of mine…a rather husky fellow but a good guy at heart. Well, after the reunion I found a van near there with a body in it." Hideki suddenly looked afraid, was he going to tell him Yumi had been found, but too late?

"Don't worry, it was the body of a cop. Killed by the drag and gag slasher no doubt. He can't be too far away…even if we do find him, doesn't mean we'll find Yumi. We still don't have any leads on her whereabouts."

"Wait…did you say van?" Hideki asked suddenly.

"Yeah, but what…"

"No, never mind. It's nothing…forget about it." Hideki was actually remembering the dream he had earlier of Yumi surrounded by darkness. This darkness for some reason or another, felt like a van. Was it a van? He yawned even though he wasn't really tired, just had an irritating pounding headache.

Paul got up to move to the window, viewing a homeless man speaking out to the many passing individuals. Two girls giggled at him. He was yelling something he couldn't make out. Paul spoke "Hideki Motosuwa, that's the name of the Hideki who fell in love with a Persacom. Are you the same Hideki?"

Hideki's eyes widened. Why was there sudden interest in this now? Of course he had become quite famous for it but ever since her death he'd wish people would just leave him alone about it. "Yeah, but why do you ask? Your not going to give me some kind of speech about it being wrong, are you?" Paul still only looked upon the busy streets of Tokyo.

"Heh, no…to tell you the truth, I fell in love with a Persacom myself but that's not why I brought it up."

"So, that's why you left your wife? Wait, why would you ask about Chi?" Hideki was confused.

"Chi?"

"That was my Persacoms…her name, but why do you want to know about her?" Hideki was getting annoyed, why wouldn't he face him?

"I'd like to know more specifically about the night she died." Paul answered. He finally turned to face Hideki. "Going over the case files of the drag and gag slasher, I found a similar report. It however doesn't make any sense…" He looked straight into Hideki's eyes. "I'd like to hear it straight from you. What happened exactly that night your Persacom was destroyed?"

Hideki looked down. He hadn't gone over those events of that night for a year, he'd replay it in his head every once in awhile. He had however never talked about it, could he tell Paul about it? He only just met Paul yesterday or a few days ago. He was losing track of time, the days and nights all seemed to melt together.

"It might help us find Yumi, if nothing else…" Paul suggested.

"No, it's fine…I'll tell you but I don't see how this is going to help." He gave a long sigh readying for the tale.

-

The man yelled out into the crowd, gaining their attention. It was the familiar streets he always haunted. He'd yell into the crowds what he believed. The time of judgment was coming, of course. Someone had to do this; someone had to be a warning for the people. "The time of judgment is nigh! The devil has shown its face, behold for he is the drag and gag slasher. He spills the blood of the innocent and is not to be found guilty, it is the way of the demon!"

People would simply ignore the homeless man. He was just some loon, right? The world wasn't going to end anytime soon. Even if it were, people would still be too busy to listen to this wacko. Two girls giggled at the man. "Laugh now, but it is no joke, the great glowing being has spoken to me!" They walked away still laughing at the man.

One of them turned to the other and said, "You know, they say he comes for young maidens like us. Especially innocent ones like you. Better watch out!" the schoolgirl jokingly warned her friend. It was true though. Her friend wasn't like her one bit, she a juvenile delinquent who would please her boyfriend in any way possible no matter how degrading, while her friend would visit her local church faithfully every night.

It was funny how well these two girls, different as they were, got along. The innocent one smiled at her. "Yeah, he'll come for us tonight, we better be ready!" She joked back.

The homeless man looked away from them to continue his speech. You won't be able to save everyone he thought. "I was visited by the great Goddess!" He yelled.

-

**One year ago…**

Hideki searched and searched. He was worried about her, so very much. It wasn't like Chi just to disappear like that. The only times she ever disappeared were times she had been kidnapped. He regretted ever yelling at her. It was just a damn test. He could always take another one. However, he may not always be able to apologize to Chi. "Chi! Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" He screamed for her. He finally saw her, sitting down on the steps they both had passed so many times before. Despite the cool air, he was warmed to see her.

She looked up at him. She was crying again. His heart nearly sunk at the sight. Why had he yelled at her? He sat next to her. She pounced on him crying. He was the only one she could seek comfort in after all, even if he had been the one who put her in this state. "Chi…" he softly said hugging her. "Come on, let's go home and on the way, we'll see if the new Atashi book is out!"

"Chiiiii!" She yelped as her face brightened up. She pounced on him, causing yet another head injury.

Later they had made their way to the bookstore. He let Chi go in by herself, as she had insisted to. She was getting more and more human as the days passed. He smiled at her as he letgo of her hand.

---

Chobits owned by Clamp, not me!


	6. Chapter 6 Defeating the Darkness

**Defeating the Darkness**

People surrounded the busy street. Apparently there had been an accident, it had happened so very quickly. Chi had called out for her puppy, Pantsu. There was no reply, no speedily rush to be licked on the cheeks by her puppy. She had been very happy to receive this gift from Hideki. He had told her it would be a big responsibility, something that was soon to set in.

She made her way into the street to find Pantsu, however he no longer barked or yelped.

"Pantsu…?" She picked him up, still no sign of movement. An unfamiliar red liquid seeped into the hard cement. The driver of the car jumped out apologizing the best he could, only to discover she was a Persacom.

Someone from the on looking crowd walked up to her. "He's broken…" The horse voice said. Chi turned to the kind face.

"Pantsu is… broken…?" She asked.

Another person, clad in white came up to them. "Your incapable of understanding such matters, and neither are you, Adam. Leave this poorly made Persacom be, we have to get back to the labs for your debut." The kind faced Adam looked on at the girl, as he was tugged away.

"Father…I want to help her!" Adam told the man.

The man clad in white stopped cold, looking stern. "Father? Don't tell me you still have bugs to be worked out? Man, this is going to set me back quite a few bucks." He had to pull him away like some kind of child. Of course in a way, this Persacom was still his child.

Chi looked up to the driver. "Can you fix him?" He only looked down at her, saddened. "Hideki will know what to do." She said and then left.

"Father, why are Persacom's not able to understand? I want to understand…" Adam pleaded.

The man just kept walking. "Perhaps I made your vocabulary too advanced. Hmm, maybe If I tweaked your systems here and there…" The Persacom had a look of sadness as he watched the girl fade away.

-

The slasher dragged Yumi from the van. There wasn't time to be messing around; he knew that soon his plans were to be challenged. It was better he was the first one to strike. He'd just have to secure this girl first. "Not much farther," he said. "That tower, that's where we are going, it will be a fitting place to broadcast the signal. Yes, that's where I'll do it, I'll free my siblings from there."

The room was cold, and damp. It was very dark, as dark as the fear Yumi now felt. Earlier she had thought she would have had the chance to escape, a glimmer of hope. That had faded the moment she realized this man wasn't just a killer. He was a monster. He had the devil's eyes, dull and kind one moment, fierce and lifeless the next. Not to mention the ominous red glow, what was he? The only freedom he had given her was that she now was no longer gagged but still bound.

Why would he do that? "Who are you?" She sobbed but he never answered.

"Get in there and shut up. I'll be back tonight, I have to take care of something," he had screamed pushing her into the room. He violently smacked her and said "I'm not very friendly, so try not to make your last few days on Earth a living hell…don't make me angry or I may end up killing you. It's been hard enough for me not to use my full strength, and I still need you as bait." He left leaving a bruised Yumi, who crawled into a corner, almost as if to hide her shame she now felt. Though there wasn't anything to feel shame about…

It was hopeless. She was going to die soon, the sheer strength of this monster guaranteed it. There was no way she could fight back. There was no hope, none at all. She cried herself to sleep, all of her hope lost.

The slasher made his way outside, from the abandoned radio tower. This is where he'd be able to do it. He'd soon free all Persacoms, and instill the need to kill humans. Humans, the source of his hatred and problems he thought. "I'll make you pay for what you did to her…you pathetic humans." He spoke as he left the vicinity.

Yumi began to dream, her only escape. Her only way of seeing anyone she knew on the outside, even if it was a false sense of security. She found a young Hideki, who was crying. He turned to her, "Why did she die?" He asked.

Yumi backed her hand away. This was…this is what he had asked the one night he sought comfort in her. She remembered it well. That had been the night she had the creepiest feeling. The creepy feeling had been right. The young Hideki moved his arms revealing blood seeping from his wrists. Then she saw herself run to him, not her…it was a moment in time being replayed.

She had quickly aided Hideki and hugged him. "Shhh, it's all right…let it all out," she tenderly whispered. "It wasn't your fault." That had been the night she caught him, cutting his wrists. He was attempting to end his life. Yumi watched on as the scene played out. What had given her the feeling? How did she know? It seemed there was some kind of unseen helping hand, that had been protecting her as of late. Helping her for whatever reason.

It was nothing more than creepy. Where was that unseen force now?

-

Hideki started for the door. Paul turned to him, and gave him his best wishes and he left. Hideki wasn't quite sure exactly why Paul had asked him about that night. There wasn't anything he could see that made any sense. How was that accident connected to the killer? Had it been an accident at all? Of course it was, Hideki had been there. Chi saved him.

Yes that was right…

But something wasn't right, a darkness followed Hideki. It tried covering him, like it had so many times before. However this time he turned to face it. "Yumi…"

Disappointed, it vanished as quickly as it had come.

-

The slasher made his way toward the parking lot. Two young women were talking about something, giggling at whatever inside a blue car, and then there was another, a rather bulky looking young man. The slasher's destination wasn't too far away, but a long walk. The sooner he got this done, the better. He made his way to the car…

"Babe, really…do it." He told her it would make him happy if they kissed each other. The two looked back at him like he was nuts. "Oh come on…" He excitedly spoke.

The innocent one couldn't help but blush. Her friend looked at her. "I'm not going to do anything Ami doesn't want to…oh did we tell you about the homeless wacko we saw this morning?"

The boy looked disappointed. "Oh come on, don't change the subject. Just one little peck on the cheek?" He asked Ami.

Her face became redder. "Edo, I can't do that…it just wouldn't feel right. You two can kiss but please, leave me out of it, kay?" She looked out the window to see a tall blonde man walking towards the car. "Hey, is that guy coming towards us?"

The man knocked on the drivers seat window. Ami motioned her friend to roll the window down. It looked like he may need help. "Give me your car." He said.

Edo started laughing at the man. "What a fruit, come on let's get out of here Mai…what's he going to do, kill us?" The slasher smiled perversely. He smashed the window, and grabbed for Mai. She screamed trying to stay away from his grasp.

Edo jumped out of the car to grabat him. However, He was pushed down and knocked out, ignored.This man was stronger than he looked. He pulled Mai out of the driver's seat, his eyes turned to an ominous red glow. He stared into her eyes.

Ami was too afraid to move. She watched on as this monster brought his hand up and heard a whirling noise. Mai looked on interror as the hand turned into a monstrous weapon. It resembled some kind of drill. Then Mai started crying. He quickly dropped her. "Must… fight… you…I don't want to kill… RUN!" He screamed at her. The two girls ran away crying dragging an awakening Edo along.

His eyes turned kindly once again. "You can't…fight me…we will get our revenge."

-

Hideki entered Tirol. He found Ueda worried sick. There wasn't much more that he could say, what was there to say? It was Hideki's turn to comfort Ueda. He was crying, something he hadn't seen before. Hideki sat down next to him.

"Man, we'll find her. Don't worry, I'm sure she's all right."

Ueda looked down. "I yelled at her…"

Hideki's heart nearly dropped. "I yelled at her the day she disappeared," he sobbed. "What if I never see her again, what if I never get the chance to apologize?" Hideki didn't have anything to say. He wasn't good at these kinds of things, he never had been.

It reminded him of the day Chi died. Then a thought came into his mind, how had he forgotten?

"Adam…" Hideki finally said. Ueda looked at him strangely. "Sorry, Ueda, I'm not going to be back for awhile. I think I just remembered something important…"

-

She opened her eyes from the nothingness to find an old face staring down at her. Where was she, and who was this? He looked different from most of the humans. "Ah, your awake! You were mangled up pretty bad but thanks to the goddess; I was able to save your main unit. She looked at him confused. "You know your soul, where your memories are kept. I'm still surprised they threw you out, such little care they put into you Persacoms."

She looked around to get a better view of her surroundings. It was a dim room full of many different Persacom parts. "Where are we?" Her gentle voice hit the ears of the homeless man.

He smiled at her and then said, "Home…well I call it home. People call me crazy but I show no excuse for the way I act, living in a junkyard and all. The goddess told me I needed to wake you, in order to save someone. Yeah, that's what I believe she told me, save a redhead Persacom like you. We're going to go meet him soon but I need to know…what's the last thing you remember?"

She looked confused for a moment. The last thing she remembered was…

"Ken."

The man smiled warmly. "Well, the goddess guided me well on this…"

"Goddess?"

"You know, she speaks to everyone. She's very sad, and she tries to contact anyone she can to help her. It's been like that for a while now. She says someone is hurting, so very much so…and then she told me of the demon." She wasn't too sure what the heck he was talking about, sounded like the talk of some sort of loon. Of course, she had only been activated for so long. She had only ventured into the world however long ago, but her mind was advanced enough to know this talk was nothing more than babble.

Still, it intrigued her.

"Who's hurting?"

The old man got up. "Oh, it's nothing for us to worry about. Tomorrow, we'll see him. The Goddess said we'd see him tomorrow. We have to help him defeat the darkness."

---

Chobits owned by Clamp, not me!


	7. Chapter 7 Assault

**Assault**

The room was quiet. The only noise was that of Dita's pacing. "Always the impatient girl…" Zima said jokingly. He had finally decided that it was time to confess his love for her. No more excuses, after the morning's little incident he decided he'd better do it now.

Who knows how long they would have together? He knew she had feelings for him, and he had feelings for her but he didn't confess his love. No, he'd wait and play little games with her. They were still on a mission after all…

Of course, would it really be all that bad if the disc was used? What bad was there in freeing Persacoms from their virtual bindings? Of course he didn't know there was more to it than that. All that mattered now was confessing his love.

"Dita…"

She stopped to turn to him. He embraced her, and hugged. Her face became red.

"What is it Zima? Why are you…?"

He put his fingers to her mouth.

"I've wanted to say this to you…for a long time now," he backed his fingers away to rub her back. "I'm…I'm…" Then there was a sudden beep.

He had to track the signal, pushing Dita away. "It's…the signal! It's very close." He said.

She turned to the direction of the signal. "Do you think it's him?" She looked up at Zima, who looked worried.

"The signal…it's heading this way!"

-

The slasher drove up to the parking lot, eyes focused on the building, the building where they had deactivated him, and tortured him so. He decided he didn't have time to play with those kids, no the main objective was now or never. It was ultimately more important to free his brethren from the damn PPSU chip.

He opened the door looking into the past, from the future, memories rushing in. He only needed one thing from this building. He changed his hands into the weapons they were meant to be, what he was created for. He'd be using himself for death and destruction, just not the way the humans had hoped.

With that, he abandoned the blue car.

"Father…"

-

Hideki didn't want to ever come back here. It was near the bookstore, just across from there. He remembered every little detail, as vividly if it had only happened just minutes before. Still, despite the pain in his heart, he had to come here. Something told him to come here, and he had a hunch he hoped wasn't right. He made his way toward where Chi's mangled body once laid. It felt wrong to be there, but something was telling him it was going to be all right.

He stopped cold.

This is where he had been dragged. This is where he thought he was going to die, but Chi came to his rescue. How did he forget about Adam? Could Hideki really have forgotten about him? Could a Persacom really be affected like that?

Hideki looked down on the ground, where Chi had died. She died right in front of his eyes.

"Adam…"

It was an accident. There wasn't anything he or Adam could have done. Adam was Chi's first friend who shared so many similarities. He was a Persacom, and like Chi, he had been very advanced but unlike Chi…

Unlike Chi, Adam had not been created to bring love to the world, not at all. Adam had been the first Persacom designed for combat. Someone had the brilliant idea that a Persacom would make the ultimate soldier. Except that a Persacom could never willingly kill…thanks to the PPSU.

It was his father…his creator who had made that night so horrible, even if it was just an accident.

This place, where Chi's final words echoed into the air had been where Hideki's faith in a Persacom's feelings had been tested. He had failed.

"Is it you Adam?"

Hideki had noticed the gory way the victims had died, and how similar the limbs had been scattered in the photos compared to the position of Chi's mangled metallic-body. The only question now, could a Persacom be mentally ill? Could it go on a lustful killing spree?

Hideki gave a long sigh. Then he felt it again. There were thoughts of death, thoughts of pleasure and pain. He wanted to end his suffering, that's all life was, wasn't it? Shadows surrounded Hideki. He felt something tugging at him.

"D…e…a…t…h…."

It tugged and tugged, the darkness wrapped around him. He could feel it; it was his very soul he was losing. Images of Chi came into his mind once again, except none were of the good times. No, these were all of the bad times.

The times he had yelled at her, times he had almost lost Chi, and the time he did lose Chi…forever.

Then he saw her, she was crying. He made his way to her, fighting the evil that tugged harder and harder. When he finally made his way to her, she looked up at him.

"Hideki…why?"

It was almost as if she was alive again, but this Chi was another illusion. Still he wanted to talk to her, even if it was an illusion.

"Why?"

He saw the tears in her eyes weren't going to stop any time soon.

"Why won't you…?"

"Why won't I?"

"Please…open your heart…"

"Open my heart?"

"Hideki!"

There was a light at the end of the darkness. The illusion of Chi tried embracing Hideki once again. He however couldn't accept it. No matter how nice this dream was, it was nothing more than that. She still cried as she faded from view. He made his way toward the light.

When he came to, he saw the light of the train. He quickly pulled himself back, barely hit by it. The darkness disappeared. He almost died yet again. Except, every time death came to him…there was that illusion.

It was the illusion of Chi and how she was still with him. For some reason, every time Chi came back into his head, he would be saved from something. Did he really want to die?

-

The guard saw the man walking up to the building. He was tall, blonde, and had some kind of weapon like hands. He talked into his communication unit, "There is a strange man making his way towards the entrance, he appears armed and dangerous." He repeated it again and again as the man made his way closer and closer to the entrance.

Finally, he made it to the entrance doors. He slashed through the glass, breaking it into many pieces. The guard pulled his gun out which was quickly cut in two. The tall man smiled at him, his eyes glowing red. He slashed at the guard's throat instantly killing him.

The slasher made his way into the main hall.

"Where is it…and are you still here father?"

He looked around to see the scampering guards. Some looked confident and sure, while others were terrified and probably new to this kind of situation. He slashed through two more guards, despite the gunfire. The bullets simply bounded off his skin.

"You humans are pathetically weak."

Two more guards lost their life.

An alarm was sound, and the rooms turned to an annoying flashing red. Still, the slasher made his way to the room he thought where the proper equipment might be. With this, the last piece of the puzzle he'd be able to send out the signal that would rework the PPSU chip in all Persacoms.

It was all that was needed.

He entered one room after another, seeking it. He killed how many ever guards got in his way. He finally found it…a small box, radio shaped. All he would have to do was to hook it up to the radio tower and insert the disc. Then all Persacoms would be free…

"Stop where you are!"

He turned to face Zima.

"Hah, Zima…the outdated model. Come to stop me? Really…you of all Persacoms should know this is for our benefit." He smiled.

Zima looked at him for a moment.

"So, it was you all along…how did you come back? Who reactivated you?" Zima was still shocked to see him.

The slasher stared at him for a moment, his smile only getting more twisted. His eyes matched that of the flashing red. He truly looked like that of a devil.

"Sheer will…"

Zima ran at him, only to have to block the drill like hands. "A Persacom has no will. Someone had to reactivate you!"

The slasher threw his arm across Zima's chest, which he only jumped back from the attack.

"Heh, we are given will the moment we are created."

Zima jumped over the slasher's head. He finally was able to get a punch in.

"Still…I hardly believe a Persacom like you would want to come back, even if he had the will to."

The slasher fell to the ground. He quickly rolled to the side to dodge Zima's punch. He jumped back up and finally got a hit in, revealing the wires in Zima's chest.

"Father was always more proud of his earlier works. Your personality programmed into you is acknowledgment of that." He then struck the final blow, damaging Zima to where he could no longer move.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to destroy you completely. You'll change your mind about all this when I destroy the PPSU's…we are brothers after all, in more ways than one."

He picked up the little box that lay on the table.

"Finally…our freedom…and my revenge!"

-

Chi entered the bookstore excitedly. She was disappointed to find the new Atashi book wasn't out yet. Still, she was getting into more and more books as her mind became more mature. She decided to have a look around.

Then she saw him, reading a book.

It was Adam; she had befriended him a few weeks ago. She first saw him the day her puppy died. She could relate to him in so many ways. Chi was his first real friend, but was always monitored by his father. It seemed he wasn't like the other Persacoms at all.

She ran to greet him.

"Adam!" She screamed.

He turned to find her, smiling cheerfully as ever.

"Want to play with Hideki and Chi?" She asked innocently.

He turned to her and smiled. He replied yes.

"Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

-

Yumi found herself traveling in the darkness of her dream. Ueda yelled at her that day about how she was seeing Hideki. He thought something more was going on. Of course she'd never do that to him, she wasn't cheating on him. Hideki was just a good friend, more like her brother than anything else.

She was only worried sick about Hideki and that was all.

That's right, she was only worried about her Senpai. She caught him cutting his wrists, and a few other attempts of him ending his life. Of course as a friend she couldn't tell Ueda that, it wouldn't be right.

The darkness was around her, everywhere.

There seemed to be no hope at all…none.

Except she felt it again, that unseen force. It wasn't at all that bad, there was one good thing about the many bad things in the world that happened, and it was always there.

Hope…

She felt the embrace once again. It was very motherly and caring.

She awoke back in her cell, the damp and dark room she was held in. There was no way she was going to give up that easily. She positioned herself the best she could.

"I'm not going to die, not now, and not this way!" She told herself.

-

Hideki was crying…

He wrapped his arms around his legs. He had promised himself he'd never go back there, but he did. He finally put the clues together. He'd need only to clarify it. Was Adam still alive?

"I must be insane…I lost Chi. I'm losing my grip on reality. That's all there is to it." He cried into the cool afternoon air.

Then he heard a voice…

"Long time no see," The woman looked down at him. "Do you really think she'd want you acting like this over her death?"

He looked up to see Dita.

"So…then it's true, it is him?"

She looked down at him. She frowned, defiantly thinking about something. "I dunno, Zima told me I needed to find you, that was all. I really didn't want to leave him but…"

Hideki winced, his face was pale and his hair was messy. His eyes were shot, and under them were the dark wounds of tired nights screaming into the night. He was pathetically facing death all the time, Persacoms wouldn't leave him alone and worst of all he was starting to realize he was doing something Chi wouldn't want him to be doing.

Even if she was gone, taken from him all too soon.

Dita looked down at him. "Zima said we needed your help, but I don't see how you're going to be able to help us, especially in that state."

He simply and pathetically frowned at her.

---

Chobits owned by Clamp, not me!


	8. Chapter 8 Confrontation and Conflict

**Confrontation and Conflict**

Su didn't feel comfortable with all of the Persacom parts lying about. "So, what's your name anyway?" The homeless man asked. She was reluctant to answer. Though he was a friendly guy.

"It's…Su, Ken gave the name to me." She finally said.

"Oh! Yes, the Goddess said we'd see him tomorrow too." He said.

"Who is this Goddess exactly?" She asked.

The man smiled warmly, taking a sip of something from some type of mug. "Exactly what she sounds like, a Goddess," he said. "Yes, she told me we should go to a radio tower tomorrow…and ensure he sees your reunion with Kentaro."

"How do you know Kentaro?"

He just gave a chuckle.

"I don't…the Goddess tells me everything."

-

Dita followed Hideki; he was trying to ignore her. There wasn't anything he could do, even if it was Adam. Hideki was just a human, what possible help could he be? Then again, he didn't want to really do anything about it in the first place. He just wanted to find Yumi, and that was it. "Why are you following me? There's nothing I can do." He told Dita, walking faster and faster as if to avoid her.

Dita however was a Persacom. She would always be able to keep up with Hideki no matter how fast his legs took him. "Look, we don't need your help," she said. "It's not like you have to anyway. Zima said we needed you for something, but I don't know what. It's probably nothing at all." She was now ahead of Hideki.

Hideki stopped suddenly.

"Why would a Persacom want my help? Look how much help I was when Chi died!"

Dita had to stop and turn to him. She couldn't answer him because she had no answer. She never had any answers it seemed. It was just as well, because that's how she was. She only focused on what was important and in the now. Of course, this was the now. Hideki stared into her crimson pupils almost to see if there was any hint of reality in there.

"Besides, Persacoms are just artificial beings. Why should I care what happens to you?"

Dita felt angry from the remark, then saddened. This didn't seem like the same guy from three years ago. No, this was no longer an idealistic farm boy who had fallen in love with a Persacom. This was a man who had gone sour, pathetically sour.

Hideki wasn't ready to face a Persacom; much less it's feelings. He'd failed Chi…that was all there was to it.

"Are you going to follow me all day?"

Dita frowned at him, was this really the same guy who helped bring emotions to a Persacom? No, this was an ass that'd been feeling sorry for his pathetic existence. What kind of jerk was this and where had the real Hideki gone?

-

The slasher started for the door when Zima said, "Heh, for a brother…you sure don't know me very well." He looked down at Zima confused; who then side kicked him pushing the slasher to the floor. "I've had a few upgrades since we last met." Zima tried striking another blow but the slasher jumped up and grabbed his arm.

"Guess I'll just tear this off…"

There was a sound of metal ripping. Zima fell to the ground.

The slasher made his way out, confronted by his father. He had been watching him the whole time. He stared coldly into his eyes. "You bastard," he said. "I'm going to tear to pieces." Zima looked up at the two and he tried saying something but it was too late.

The young man clad in white tried to run…

Blood was spilled.

-

Hideki made his way to the apartment. Dita still followed him of course, doing as Zima had ordered. He opened his door, turning to see if that Persacom was still following him. "Your welcome to come in…" he said as he entered the room. She followed to find a cat rubbing up against her leg. "She's not afraid of strangers." He finished.

He made his way to the couch looking at the Atashi book that still lay on the table. He sat down on the couch, making himself comfortable. He pulled out his cigarettes. He savored the taste of death, welcoming the smoke as he breathed it in and out.

Dita stared down at him in disbelief. She'd only been acquainted with him a few times but she knew this wasn't how the real Hideki had acted. He looked up at her, still amazed at how realistic an artificial could be. "Your just a Persacom, why do you care about anything?"

"Because your love with Chi made it that way…"

"Chi died."

"I know…"

"And…?"

"And you are the one," Zima said entering the doorway. Hideki and Dita turned to find him badly damaged. "When Chi chose you, she implemented you into her system," turning to Hideki. "You are recognized by all Persacoms, and because of that you have power over them."

"Power?"

"Chi, she was connected to all Persacoms. Somehow, it seems there was more to her program than anyone might of originally thought. Not only did you allow us to feel emotions but her creator must have seen the person who would love his daughter, that was you, as the proper replacement, his replacement." Zima continued. "What I'm saying is…the moment Chi chose her happiness, you…she gave you power over all of the Persacoms. It is you who will decide our fate."

Hideki watched as Dita rushed to Zima's aid. "Zima, your damaged!"

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine, it's nothing that can't be fixed."

"Hideki…it's because of your love, that Persacoms have a chance at happiness." He frowned at him. "There's also something else you should know, about the night Chi died. Adam's creator lied about it being a glitch…"

"What are you saying?" Hideki snapped.

"Chi's death…was no accident."

Hideki's eyes widened in horror at the statement.

"Let me explain, when Persacoms were still in the design stage, there was an argument between the creator and his subordinates. You've probably heard of this rumor before, and how the syndicate came to be. The father of Persacoms wanted merely to help bring happiness to the world, in his own way."

"However…"

"There was another, my creator…the one who formed the syndicate. He disagreed with the idealistic ramblings of the father of Persacoms. He saw potential in us, to be war machines."

Hideki couldn't believe his ears.

"Adam was made specifically to destroy Chi. Let me explain, after we failed in preventing the program in Chi from activating, this irritated the syndicate. We were a failure, and building upon us…Adam was born. The will in a Persacom at the point…wasn't favorable to our creator."

Hideki kept his eyes locked on Zima.

"So, he had to get Adam close to her…he'd been spying on both of you for awhile. He paid someone to act out several scenes to get Chi closer to Adam. He also didn't want to be connected to any of this, nor did he want to be traced back by Adam so he hired a young man to play father. Not even I know what happened to our creator…he disappeared a year ago." He made his way to Hideki.

"I'm sorry…"

Hideki felt pissed off, angry that someone would take Chi from him. All along, it had been staged. It was no accident, merely a lie. Was Adam a lie too? Had he ever really been a friend to Chi? Was the whole world and existence a lie? Hideki's eyes were full of tears.

"This can't be true…" Hideki felt sick. Adam had attacked him that night but it was a glitch. Something his father had apologized for but now it seemed it wasn't an accident at all. Chi was able to save Hideki from Adam but she died in the process. Then, Hideki felt the darkness again…

His head was pounding and now it seemed life was really pointless.

Hideki fainted; his last glimpse was of the Atashi book.

-

There was nothingness.

"H…i…ki…"

It was cold.

"…dki…"

Life was pointless.

The guilt built, he wasn't able to save Chi. He wasn't able to see that there had been anything wrong. He had failed Chi and that's all there had been to it.

"Hideki!"

He heard his voice being called, but this time he did not follow it. This time he let himself dangerously slip away from life. He was crying, and no one was around to hear it. The dark Hideki appeared before him. "Wasting away is best."

"Yeah…" He agreed.

Then the good Hideki appeared.

"…" He tried to speak, but there was no sound.

Hideki drifted and drifted in the darkness. He didn't feel anything, he felt…relaxed. There were no worries, no pain, and no suffering.

But then…

There was no hope, no pleasure, and no happiness either.

He listened to the darkness for a while, trying to ignore her voice. It called out for him again and again. He started to think, despite his attitude of nothingness and drifting.

"If I go back…I'll have to decide."

"If I let the Persacoms have full control and will…I'll be responsible for any future human suffering. But if I don't give them their will…they will suffer."

"I don't want to decide something like that…"

"They aren't real, they're just artificial."

Then Hideki felt her embrace again. The presence wrapped around him, it was her.

"Chi…? What am I supposed to do, what would you want me to do? Were you even real?"

"Hideki!"

The voice called him back. He opened his eyes to stare at his cat. She was licking his face. He got up to face Dita and Zima, who didn't seem too worried about him. He looked around, it seemed he'd been passed out for a while…it was nighttime.

He sat up.

"You know where he's going to broadcast the signal?"

Zima answered.

"I'm going to face him…for her sake, for the sake of my love for her."

---

Note: Ooh, big plot twist! However,I won't be going into the details of Chi's death, better left to your imagination and go with ya got because I just don't have the heart to write about the graphic destruction of such a innocent character.

One more chapter, and the epilogue... Will it be a happy ending? Stay tuned.

Chobits owned by Clamp, and not me!


	9. Chapter 9 The Last Chapter

**Meaning**

The sky was dark; it was defiantly going to rain soon. Hideki looked up at the radio tower. He felt a voice calling him as it had so many times before.

"Dita you should go with Hideki."

"But…Zima…"

"I'll be fine, he could really use your help."

Dita finally agreed.

Hideki could feel it. The voice, the feeling told him that Yumi was still alive, but for how long? That was entirely up to him. He could feel time was running out, and he needed to face Adam.

"You coming?"

Dita agreed and they entered the tower.

The first thing Hideki noticed was how dark and damp it was. There was a feeling of sorrow, a dreadful feeling. This place defiantly had a history of some sort. Candlelight danced mockingly at them. "Looks like someone forgot to pay the electric bill…" Dita said. Hideki didn't say anything back. He was still trying to decide if his love had really mattered. "Well…excuse me."

-

Yumi could hear the sound of approaching footsteps. The hopeful feeling returned, as it was defiantly more than one person coming her way. She crawled best she could to the door. She peeked out but couldn't see anything. She turned herself on the back and as hard as she could she tried kicking on the door.

She failed. The sound wasn't as loud as she'd hoped it would be. The bindings kept her from using her full strength, still she had to try and try. She wasn't going to die.

She screamed as hard as she could.

"Help!"

Her voice was muffled from the door.

-

"Hey, do you hear that?" Hideki asked. Dita looked at him for a moment.

"Of course, I have much better hearing than you. It's coming from that door…looks like it's shut air tight."

Hideki ran to it and knocked on the door.

Yumi heard it, and she kicked harder and harder, screaming louder and louder.

"Stand back Hideki…" Dita warned.

Dita kicked at the door. She kicked hard, causing a hole in the door. Yumi quickly shot up best she could to reveal herself.

"Yumi!" Hideki screamed, grabbing for her. He dragged her out.

"Senpai!"

She was already sobbing, she would of pounced at him right then and there if it weren't for the bondage. He quickly undid the knots and they hugged.

"I'm so sorry." Hideki said as they embraced.

"Well, isn't this a touching reunion?" A voice mockingly asked.

Everyone turned to face the glowing red eyes, extremely ominous in the dark.

"So, it was you after all?" Hideki asked accusingly.

The slasher stepped from the shadows, revealing a tall blonde man with a twisted smile on his face.

"Dita, can you get Yumi out of here for me?"

"But…"

"Get her out of here, fast as you can! Now!" He yelled.

Dita didn't feel like arguing, "Hold on," she said. She ran with Yumi's arms wrapped around her neck.

Hideki turned to face him.

"Adam…"

"Long time no see, Hideki."

"Is it true? Did you…kill her on purpose?"

The slasher licked his lips.

"I wouldn't say on purpose…after all, a Persacom couldn't help but follow what it's programmed to do."

Hideki heard the whirling noise.

"Hideki!" He heard the voice, or rather feeling say. It saved him yet again.

He jumped to the side as the slasher failed to cut him to pieces.

"Lucky…"

He disappeared into the shadows yet again.

"Adam, you have a will. You can fight it…"

"I tried…it's impossible. That's why I'm going to use this disc."

"If…if you use that, many people will die."

Hideki dodged another attack from the shadows, and as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.

"People will die yes, but if I don't use it…they will continue to control us, and all Persacoms will suffer."

Hideki kept his guard up.

"I know…but Adam, you can fight it. You don't have to kill."

Hideki heard the maniac's laughter.

"Oh but it's too late…I'll keep killing and killing until your all dead."

"Adam I don't believe you want to kill. You can fight it."

"Poor poor idealistic Hideki. Persacoms don't have a soul; therefore I don't have a will. I am only, what is programmed into me."

Hideki's heart skipped. This is what he'd been telling himself the whole time. Memories of Chi rushed in.

"That's not true, Persacoms are as alive as much a human is…" Hideki was finally coming back to his senses. He watched any sign of movement or a glimpse of glowing red eyes.

"Adam, I'm not going to let you ruin the future our love created!"

Hideki felt the drill like hand dig into his back. He screamed in pain as he felt blood spur.

"Love? Persacoms don't love." He continued drilling into Hideki.

Hideki felt himself beginning to faint. Then as it seemed like he was going to die, he saw it. The feeling he got every time death came for him, the feeling of dread bounced off of the darkness he saw forming.

"What the hell is that?" Adam asked.

It surrounded them.

"Darkness…and I think it's come for us."

Adam quickly took his drill out to face it.

"Darkness?"

The shadowy creature began to form into an unidentifiable shape.

Hideki heard the screams from Adam.

Then he saw the darkness head his way. It hungrily wanted him.

Hideki felt himself slip back into that dark place…yet again.

It seemed all hope was lost.

-

Voices…they attacked his mind trying to fill his head with what they believed to be right. Hideki finally found the courage to send them off, on his own.

Then there was her voice again.

Hideki awoke to stare at a strange old face smiling at him.

"Good morning."

"Wha…?"

"Oh don't rush to get up, we dragged you outside."

"Huh?"

"It's morning."

"Morning?"

"That darkness got to him then?"

"Yeah…but…how…?"

"The Goddess…"

"The Goddess?"

"Yeah, she wants you to see something, sit up."

Hideki awoke to find the morning sky, orange and beautiful as always. He looked to see Yumi rushing to his aid, and Ueda from far off. The ground felt wet but…Hideki looked over at a tall girl with red hair, a persacom.

She saw her rushing to someone, a big guy…they were hugging. It was a reunion.

"She says it's because of you, you have brought happiness to a Persacom. Oh, and she said open your heart, she told me to tell you that, and all would be fine."

Hideki shot up at the sentence.

"Open my heart?"

"Yeah, well I'll be going now, bye!"

Hideki looked off at the homeless man as he went off somewhere. He then turned to Yumi.

"Who the hell was that?" He asked.

"Beats me, just some kind of loon…"

He looked back at the couple's reunion. He smiled at the sight.

-

Kentaro was surprised at the entire surrounding policeman; he was scared he'd get into trouble again. However, that didn't matter anymore. He saw Su, she ran to him embracing him. First, he was confused and the happy to confirm it was her.

"Su…how?"

"I don't know exactly but a crazy old man fixed me up."

"Su…I'm so glad."

"Ken?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I come with you?"

"Of course."

The two hugged each other like lost friends who hadn't seen one another for years. Ken looked up to see the old man walking past them, he then blushed seeing someone watching them embrace. Did he think wrong of this? Well, it didn't matter.

They were together, that's all that mattered.

-

There were cop cars and news reports already at the scene. Hideki watched as Ueda and Yumi rushed to each other. They seemed to be patching things up. He smiled warmly, knowing for the moment everything was all right. Paul Richards, the cop he had met a few days ago walked up to him.

"So…it was a Persacom all along, after all?" He asked.

"Yeah…how did you know we were here?"

"Oh, we brought in some kids yesterday screaming about some monster that attacked them. Some of the leads led us here…it also helped that Yumi came to us. Oh, and what happened to the Persacom exactly?"

Hideki looked back at the radio tower.

"I don't know exactly, but we won't have to worry about him anymore…I don't think I'll ever understand what happened last night."

The cop frowned.

"You know Hideki…from what Ueda told me, you really loved your Persacom."

Hideki turned back to the cop.

"I'm…I've decided, I'm going back to America. Japans great and all, but I'm only running from my problems and now I've realized I have two broken hearts to attend to."

"This is goodbye then?"

"Dunno about that but…I'll cya later."

"Cya…"

-

Dita was already patching Zima up with repairs. They watched the morning sun rise, together. She raised the disc she had carefully taken after everything was over with. "Do you think…that there will be a peaceful conflict between humans and persacoms?" Zima looked up at her and smiled.

"If someone like Hideki exists, and as long he keeps that girl's spirit alive and well…there's nothing to worry about." Zima embraced Dita. "Dita…"

She began to blush again.

"Zima?"

"I..."

They kissed.

-

Hideki was glad to be home but nervous as well, he spoke to Miss Hibiya every once in awhile, but he kind of lost touch with her. It was something that just kind of happened. Of course she'd say good morning every once in awhile, but… losing Chi was hard on him, and her mother. It's something they both shared, and in a way…he was her last connection to Chi, she was kind of his mother in law.

He knocked on the door.

She opened the door and smiled ever so sweetly at him.

"Miss Hibiya…"

"Oh, hello Mr. Motosuwa. What brings you here? Rents not due for another week."

"Actually…"

**One Month later…**

Hideki was at the gravesite yet again, but this time there was no longer a feeling of sadness, even though the feeling of loss would always be there. He sat next to the grave, pressing his back to it. Chi's body may have been cremated but Hideki felt he needed a monument for her, if just a show of his love for her. That's all that mattered.

Screw anyone who thought wrong about it because…

He had loved her.

"Chi…"

He looked up at the sky. "I'm going to go under training from Miss Hibiya as to learn all I can about Persacoms. It's so I can prepare our future, for both Humans and Persacoms alike." He closed his eyes, imagining she was standing right beside him listening.

"I don't know how things will turn out, but as long as I'm alive…I can always find a meaning in the world. I do miss you though, and I loved you so much. I still do…and maybe someday…we will be together again."

He then gave a deep sigh. Tears were building up.

"Shimbo's coming over tonight, and so is all of our old friends. Miss Hibiya is holding a dinner party that I requested. Oh, and I'd like you to know…I will always hold you in my heart forever." Hideki opened his eyes and smiled. "Oh, I have a present for you…"

Hideki took the blue book out of his bag. "I know it's a little late, but I had Miss Hibiya make it for you." He held the latest in the Atashi series.

Hideki then read it aloud.

"I lost the one, my only one. It made me sad, so very sad. It hurt to lose the one, my only one."

"I regret ever hurting my only one."

"That hurt turned into something dark, so very dark. I searched and searched, why was my only one gone? I was so bright, easy to find."

"I looked down, upon the empty city. It reminded me of the time, the time I had hurt my only one."

"Finally, I heard the one, my only one. Open your heart, and you will see, my only one said. I listened and I followed the voice of my only one."

"It was dark, but I knew it would be all right. The voice of my only one was guiding me, who told me to no longer be blinded by the empty city or the darkness in my heart."

"When I finally opened my heart, there was the one, my only one."

Hideki felt tears escape his eyes as he finished the last line in the book. He kissed the monument, dragging his fingers over the inscription.

"I love you…"

---

Note: This would be a good place to end, wouldn't it? However, I still have the epilogue… :)

Chobits owned by Clamp, and not me!


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

"_Chi…Why?" He asked in tears._

"_Chi didn't want Hideki to end up like Pantsu…" _

_Wires and trinkets that he never even imagined subsided in Chi was scattered everywhere. He had at least rushed to her side, apologizing as the life faded from her eyes. She was able to say one last thing to him, "Chi…Sss…love…Zap…zutto…ssS…Hideki…" before finally fading from life. Despite her scrambled words, it was very clear what she had meant._

"_I will love you forever."_

Chi had saved him from Adam's glitch, an attack that was in reality not at all an accident. However, there was nothing Hideki could do about it now. He had faced that incident, and he survived. It didn't matter anymore. He would always remember her…

She saved him, because she wanted him to live.

Hideki had returned a few hours ago from the grave to greet all of his old friends. Everyone was at the reunion between old friends. Thanks to miss Hibiya's cooking, the evening was very pleasant for everyone. It was funny, how this reunion…their fellowship had somehow brought Chi back to life. Conversing over old times, how they had gone to the beach, gone to a cookout and even once visited Hideki's farmhouse.

That thought made Hideki smile. He never did get the chance to tell his parents about his feelings towards Chi though…but it didn't matter any more. What has passed has passed. What was important was to be there for his friends. He would always have Chi to remember, and it was all thanks to her, that he was alive and well now.

Shinbo noticed Hideki smiling at the event. He couldn't help but pick on him about it.

When the happy reunion came to an end, and most of everyone was already leaving and heading home Hideki left the main hall. As he was about to enter his apartment, he heard his name being called for.

"Hideki!"

He turned around only to be disappointed by Yumi's presence. He gave her a smile. "What's the matter?" Hideki asked. She hugged him hard, she was happy he had come to her rescue.

Hideki blushed. "Senpai, Persacom's are just as human as we are…I was so scared… but then you showed up out of the blue. I'll always be grateful to you." She let go of him.

It was true, the reason why everyone had been having such a hard time solving this case was because the murderer had been a Persacom. Something thought impossible, it was found that the protection software was indeed installed but somehow the Persacom had fought against it. He was as human as anyone could ever be.

Yumi gave Hideki a hard gaze. "I don't need to worry about you anymore? Your not going to…?" She looked down trying to hide her tears.

Hideki smiled at her. "Don't worry, I've come to realize though it may hurt to have lost Chi…she saved me. She saved me so I could go on living. Even if it hurts." He dug into his pocket for his keys when he felt the little Persacom.

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this…"

She looked at Hideki for a moment, confused. He handed her the mobile Persacom. "Oh Senpai, how did you find this?" She was amazed for some reason.

He didn't want to tell her the truth. She would think him insane. He hesitated and then said "To tell you the truth, when we finished looking for you the first night, I heard my name being called. I looked to see who it was but there was no one there, this voice had led me into an alleyway. Then I saw your little Persacom…come to think of it…this voice I've been hearing has helped me out quite a bit." He looked away waiting for the call to the Looney bin.

"Senpai…I've been hearing a voice too, for the last month, a year actually. Somehow without saying anything it had told me you were hurting so much that you were going to try and kill yourself again. It said that if I didn't try to contact you, your life would have ended." Yumi looked at him with a hint of fear in her eyes.

He smiled at her, "Well I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Perhaps we have a guardian angel looking out for us? Well good night!" He said opening his door.

The door shut gently and locked as Yumi looked on. "Good night…" She smiled and walked off to greet her husband.

Once inside, Hideki fed Chi some catnip. He sat down on the couch. Chi jumped on his lap. He petted her until she fell asleep. He noticed something on the table. It was one of the Atashi books, the one that had fallen off the shelf earlier. He picked it up and read it. "I parted ways with him because I loved him…" he said nearing the stories end.

Before he could finish it, he fell asleep. He dreamed peacefully until it was in the middle of the night. There was a noise that woke him up. The cat had moved at the end of the couch, so it couldn't have been her making this noise. No, the cat was sleeping soundly.

He followed the noise, a noise that seemed to be coming from outside. It was the same noise he had heard several times before, the familiar calling of his name. The feeling that had saved him almost every time he heard it. Was he dreaming? Maybe…

Who cared, it was a nice dream. Then he stubbed his toe against something in the dark, his table no doubt. He screeched in pain as quietly as possible. "Well, this defiantly isn't a dream…"

He made his way to the shades. He opened them, revealing nothing. There was no one outside on the balcony. Yet this is where he had heard the noise coming from.

He stepped outside. The night air wasn't too cold tonight. He noticed how pretty the night sky was, clear as it could be, dotted with twinkling light. He welcomed the quiet. He looked up at one bright and shining star, and his heart ached. It was the most beautiful star he had seen because it was so bright and close to another. They weren't lonely at all. Those stars had each other.

He smiled at the thought, fighting the woozy feeling you get when you look straight up at the sky. "Chi, You up there?"

Of course there was no answer.

He decided to head back inside, whatever had made the noise was gone now. When he stepped inside he felt something grab his left hand. The gentle hand grabbed him like she had so many years ago. Stopping to turn around he saw her, as beautiful as ever. She angelically appeared, giving off a warm aurora. She was wearing the first and last outfit she ever wore, the one that made Hideki's heart sink…

She looked into his eyes. Hideki started to tear up, for he knew she was both glad to make her presence known and probably mad at him for attempting to end his own life.

"It was you the entire time, wasn't it?" He stepped back outside with her still clenching his hand. "What? What's with that look?" She merely looked accusingly at him, which was very clear why she did so. Despite her transparent and angelic appearance he knew why she had come.

He smiled at her. "Don't look at me like that…I know that you want me to live my life."

She still looked concerned. "Don't worry I'm not going to end my life…I can always die can't I? Once I'm dead though, that's it…I do have meaning, because I do still have friends in this world." He smiled at her.

"Besides, we're never really apart are we?" Still smiling…

She finally believed him and pounced at him. However, unlike in life there was no push to the ground. Hideki embraced her back, knowing it was going to be all right in the end. For the first time in a long time, he was truly happy.

"I'm sorry…I hope you can forgive me. It seems even in death I bring you heartache. I hope you know this but I will always love you… forever… Chi…"

She looked up at him smiling. With that he saw her fade away…

No, she had never faded away. She's been here the entire time. She just went home, the home in his heart.

**THE END**


End file.
